Shocking: Telegram Founder Arrested, App Under Fire 

The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov. Credit | The New York Times
The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov. Credit | The New York Times

United States: Pavel Durov, the founder of the so popular messaging service called Telegram, has been arrested in France over the weekend, and this is what has brought the service and its shrouded founder into the limelight. 

Durov, who was born in Russia, was apprehended on Saturday at the Bourget Airport in Paris on a warrant concerning the absence of moderation in the application. 

More about the case 

Other charges include obscenity, incitement to terrorism, and that his site enabled fraudsters, money launders, drug traffickers, and people sending child sexual exploitation images, French prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement Monday. 

The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov. Credit | The New York Times
The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov. Credit | The New York Times

Beccuau also said that Durov is alleged to have failed to ‘provide information or documents’ in the investigation, CNN reported. 

On Wednesday French prosecutors said Durov had been put under formal investigation and was forbidden from leaving France, a process which does not suggest ‘involvement’ in the French legal system but is the next step in a serious investigation. He must also stay under judicial supervision within the bounds of the country and the bail has been fixed at USD 5.56 million and it is mandated to inform about the French police station at least twice a week. 

Arrest of Durov 

The arrest of Durov has come amid increasing criticism of the app for its utility by terrorist groups and far-right extremists.’ 

The arrest of Durov has brought into discussion aspects of freedom of speech and who is in charge of obscene content on the Internet. Maria Butina, a Russian woman and a lawmaker who was convicted of spying in the United States and then deported back to Russia in 2019, labeled the CEO a “political prisoner” on Sunday, as cited by Reuters.